Kelly Vincent – 5RPH Interview on AUSLAN changes to the State Emergency Management Plan
01/07/2015
On 1st July 2015 Dignity for Disability MLC, Kelly Vincent was interviewed on radio station RPH to discuss the changes to the State Emergency Management Plan that will ensure AUSLAN interpreters are available at emergency conferences and major public announcements. Here is the audio and transcript of that interview.
Pam Green: Time to welcome to 5RPH Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent. Hi Kelly.
Kelly Vincent: Hi Pam.
Pam Green: Well first up this week Kelly, since the Sampson Flat bushfires earlier this year you’ve been advocating for some changes to the way we manage emergency services in this state. Why did this bushfire start the conversation on this issue?
Kelly Vincent: Well a constituent brought it to my attention that there were some inconsistencies with the provision of AUSLAN, Australian Sign Language Interpreters for the conferences during those fires, the conferences that let people know what’s going on.
Pam Green: Mmm
Kelly Vincent: We thought it was important to have consistency so that an interpreter was there every time so that the deaf community could get access to the information that they need to stay informed and safe. So we moved forward with a proposal to the government to make this a policy issue. But there are certainly other issues that we need to include as well in terms of making sure that information is accessible to everyone.
Pam Green: Well I understand you’ve just held a joint media conference with the Emergency Services Minister, Tony Piccolo regarding some of the reforms you’ve discussed in getting the state government to implement. What are the effects of these changes?
Kelly Vincent: Well the effect is that the government has agreed to put a provision into the state emergency management plan to ensure that interpreters are available at every conference relevant to emergency situations. Like for example, during the Sampson Flat bushfires the conferences where the Premier and Ministers would let everyone know what is going in the conference and which areas are affected and so on. This is a very pleasing announcement, we’re glad to see the government operating with Dignity for Disability on this, and moving forward with this very important proposal. So we’re very pleased that from now on there will be consistency in the provision of AUSLAN interpretation for emergency television broadcasts.
Pam Green: Do you think any other changes are needed in the way that we manage emergency services and disaster planning in this state?
Kelly Vincent: Look, absolutely. The AUSLAN interpretation is only one part of this puzzle. We also need to make sure that interpreters get the training they need to accurately interpret the situation. We need to make sure the camera operators are trained so that they don’t zoom in on a speaker and cut the interpreter out of frame. But there are also other things that we need to consider, such as the provision of captions for people who may not use AUSLAN but might not be able to hear the television. For information and easy English for people with low literacy, perhaps due to a cognitive disability or a cultural background. People also made it very clear there is a need for information available in easy English and highly visual information for people with low literacy. And also we need to look, of course at how we educate people about both their rights and their responsibilities in an emergency situation. And this is particularly obvious to me, from what I’ve heard from the community about these issues. In schools we need to make sure that the schools and teachers are properly educated about how to support students with disabilities to evacuate in emergency situations. So this AUSLAN provision is certainly one part of a very big puzzle but it is a very big step forward and we’re very pleased that this has been able to be successful.
Pam Green: As always Kelly, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today.
Kelly Vincent: That’s a pleasure, thanks Pam.
Pam Green: Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent.
